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Flower Shaped Challah

Here’s a quick flower shape for your round challahs… a nice idea for Rosh Hashana as well as for Shavous.

Ingredients

Line a round pan with baking paper. An 8-10 inch round pan is a good idea and size.
Cut your dough into six – eight equal parts. Roll each one out to be identical round shapes, sort of like small balls.

Method

Place them inside your lined pan in the shape of a flower.
Cover the pan lightly with plastic and allow it to rise until it is double in size, about 45 minutes.

Mix one whole raw egg in a glass and use it to glaze your challah. Add on seeds of choice, or add in a bit of honey to your egg glaze, to remind us that Torah is sweet and that we are asking G-d for a sweet new year. Slide the challah into your preheated 375°F / 195°C oven and bake until it is dark golden brown on both the top and bottom. Remove it from its pan to a wire rack to cool.

Another benefit to this shape is that it can also be used as a ‘pull-apart challah’!

Freeze in a good quality freezer bag until the day of use and enjoy.

Apple Beet Cake
Great idea just in time for Rosh Hashana!

Here’s a sweet, new idea on how to creatively incorporate some of our ‘regular’ Rosh Hashana foods in newer ways, beets, apples and a healthy sweet cake!

This freezes great and with all the beets, apples and whole wheat it is a healthier alternative to regular cake, especially for Kiddush in the morning.
Yields: 30 muffins or 60 mini muffins or 2 – 9 or 10 inch bund cakes

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 & 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup orange juice
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 small green apples, peeled and shredded
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons additional sugar, or take some sugar off of the amount above
1 teaspoon lemon juice *
2 cups shredded cooked beets
*We don’t usually use tart lemon juice at this time of year; those who want to can leave it out. It is only incorporated into this recipe to keep the apples from turning colors and its taste is not discernible in the final product.

Method

Before beginning, make sure you have already cooked beets on hand, either by boiling them earlier that day and cooling them in the fridge or by baking them, covered at 375°F / 190°C for 45 minutes. They will shred much neater and easier when the cooked beets are cold. Shred them, then measure out 2 cups and keep them ready. If you have extra, either turn them into beet salad or eat them for dinner!
Put all 4 eggs into the mixer, you don’t need to separate them first. Using your wire wisk, beat the eggs for 3 minutes to aerate them somewhat. Then add in the oil, orange juice, flour, baking soda and baking powder in the exact order listed, while the mixer is beating on a low speed. When the batter is smooth, turn off the mixer.

Toss the shredded apples with the cinnamon and the extra bit of sugar and lemon juice. Add them into the batter, together with the shredded beets. Using a spatula, gently turn and mix it into the batter until it is all incorporated. The batter should turn a deep pinkish color.

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180° C.

Line your muffin trays with muffin liners. If you are doing the bund cake shapes, spray two 9-10 inch bund pans with baking oil spray. Pour batter into the bund pans only until halfway filled, not higher. If you are doing mini muffins, put 2 tablespoons of batter into each cup. For regular muffins, put batter into the cups until it is a little bit more than half way filled with batter.

Slide the cake or muffins into your oven and bake until done.

Bundt cakes should take between 25-30 minutes. Test it to ensure it is done and remove immediately so it will not overbake.

Mini muffins take only about 8-10 minutes to be fully baked.

Regular sized muffins should take between 14-18 minutes.

If you would like a sort of pomegranate or cranberry juice glaze on the top of your bund cake, here’s a nice glaze to try out. However, ONLY add on the glaze after your cake has cooled down completely, or else it will sink and disappear into the cake!

Pomegranate flavored glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons oil
2-4 tablespoons juice

You don’t need to buy expensive real pomegranate juice. I just used one of those Spring boxes of pomegranate ‘juice’ drink. It works fine.

Mix these ingredients together with a spoon, starting with only 2 tablespoons of the juice, until they are smooth. If it is too dry, add in bits more juice. If it is too thin and therefore sinks into the cake too quickly, add in more powdered sugar to thicken it. Once it’s a nice consistency, drizzle it with the help of a spoon all over your cooled cake, and enjoy!

Easy and Elegant Round Challah Shaping

One quick idea that I can share with you here is a very simple but beautiful knot:
Make three long strands of dough and then braid them into a simple, regular braid of three. Then, holding this now long braid, knot it into a circle and bring the end up and through the hole of the circle. Leave it to rise. It looks elegant and beautiful when baked and is more unique than the typical plain knot or twirled challah shapes that are usually done.

There are several other round ideas that are also quite nice; they can be viewed in chapter 3 of the book, or see them in action on my challah video (coming soon to this website)!

Many make their challahs sweeter as well, to symbolize our hope and prayer that we be inscribed for a sweet New Year. I like to do that by sprinkling a cinnamon/sugar mix on top of the challahs when they are finished rising and just after I glaze them with egg. So, oftentimes, instead of sprinkling them with seeds, I sprinkle them with the cinnamon/sugar mix.

Slide your shaped and risen challahs into your preheated oven and let them bake until golden brown and firm on both the top and bottoms of the challahs, about 40 minutes for an average sized challah. Enjoy!

Authentic Chassidic Challah

This recipe is from Rebbetzin Sarah Meisels

Biographical note:

Rebbetzin Sarah Meisels was raised in Brooklyn, NY, the daughter of the well known Chassidic Grand Rebbe, R’Shlomo Halbershtam, zt”l (obm). R’ Shlomo was a scion of the Bobover Dynasty, and led a large community of Chassidim in pre-war Europe, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him. He, his entire family, and his whole community were taken captive by the Nazis and shipped off to be killed. He miraculously survived together with only one of his children, R’Naphtali, and through an incredible series of events, eventually landed on American shores. Despite losing almost his entire family, including his first wife and all his other children, as well as most of his followers, he started afresh, remarried, and built a new family. Known as “Bobover Chassidim”, his community numbers in the thousands today and has followers from all over the US, Israel, England, Canada and Belgium. Rebbetzin Sarah Meisels is one of his daughters from his second marriage. After his demise, his son Naphtali who survived the Holocaust alongside him, served as Grand Rebbe for a short time. He died only five years after his appointment. Today, Rebbetzin Meisels’ brother, R’Bentzion Halbershtam, carries on the Bobover tradition as Grand Rebbe.
This recipe makes 6 large loaves, and can easily be halved for those wishing to make less at one time.

Ingredients

5 ½ lbs. / 2 kilo 700 grams / 20 cups flour
½ cup oil
5-6 cups warm water
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
2 T. salt
1 ¼ – 1 ½ cups sugar (depends on how sweet you like them)
4 flat T. dry yeast

Method

Sift the flour and set aside.

In a very large mixer bowl, add the oil, 5 cups of the warm water, the eggs, and the salt. Mix this up a bit. Add in 10 cups of the flour and mix again. It should be a thin sort of mixture. Add in the sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top of this. Let it sit for 10 minutes, preferably covered.

After 10 minutes, it should have activated somewhat. Start to knead in the rest of the flour in increments until it is all incorporated. If the dough is too dry, add in the rest of the water in increments as well. If you have been using your mixer, turn the dough out onto a clean surface or table to finish kneading it.

Grease your hands as well as the outside of the dough to keep it pliable and non-sticky. When the dough is smooth and elastic, cover it well with plastic. If you made the whole recipe, separate challah with a blessing.

Let the dough rise for 1 – ½ hours until at least doubled in bulk, while keeping it covered in plastic.

Shape as desired, and follow the steps for rising and shaping as directed on ppgs. 38-41 of the book for shaping, rising and baking.

Sweet Mixed Whole Wheat Egg Challah

Ingredients

This larger amount makes enough dough to get the mitzvah of hafrashas challah, ie, separating challah with a blessing. It makes 6 larger challahs, 8-9 medium sized ones.
10 cups / 1.5 kilo very finely ground whole wheat flour (or one of the whole wheat flours that are 75%-85%) 12 cups white flour, sifted 5-6 cups warm water 3 eggs 1 T. salt 2 & 1/4 cups light brown sugar 1 cup canola oil 100 grams fresh yeast cube or 3 & ½ Tablespoons dry yeast Additional eggs for glazing Seeds of choice A bit more oil for shaping and rolling For those of you who want a very small recipe, here are smaller amounts: Just remember, that when doing this small version, you cannot get the mitzvah of ‘hafrashas challah’ as the amounts of flour are too small… 10 cups / 1.5 kilo very finely ground whole wheat flour (or one of the whole wheat flours that are 75%-85%) 2 and 1/2 cups finely ground whole wheat flour 5 cups white flour 2 cups warm water 1/2 cup additional warm water if needed 1/3 cup oil 1 egg 1 teaspoon of salt 3/4 cup light brown sugar 1 Tablespoon dry yeast Additional eggs for glazing later on Seeds of choice A bit more oil for shaping and rolling.

Method

Place the fresh yeast in the bottom of a large mixing bowl; crumble slightly with your hands. If you are using the dry, just put it in the bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of the sugar on top of it. Add part of the warm water to cover it, then cover the bowl and let the yeast proof for 5 -8 minutes. (If you used dry yeast, you do not need to wait for it to proof; just continue.)

Add half of the flour, the oil, sugar and eggs.

Start to mix while adding in some more of the water. Add in the salt and continue to knead. It should resemble a thick batter at this point.

Turn off the mixer and cover the bowl again. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes.

Turn the mixer back on and slowly add the remaining flour while mixing and adding in water at the same time until a smooth, slightly sticky dough is formed. This can be done by hand as well as by mixer. Keep mixing until the dough is uniformly mixed. Add small amounts of water and oil as needed in order to complete the texture of the dough.

When done, transfer the dough to a very large, oiled bowl to rise. Turn the dough over once or twice so it becomes coated a bit with oil. Then cover the dough by sliding the entire bowl with the dough into a large plastic garbage bag.

Remove challah with a blessing, if you made the larger amount.

Leave the dough to rise now for an hour. Punch the dough down and leave it to rise another hour, if you have the time for it. This extra punching down and then re-rising activates the gluten in the dough and will make a marked difference in the final product.

If the shaping will be done only much later on in the day or the next morning, grease your hands with oil, punch down the dough all over and place it in a large garbage bag. Remove all air and seal it on top with a strong knot. Place it in the fridge until ready for shaping.

When you want to shape it, take it out of the fridge for at least an hour prior so that it warms up to room temperature first.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 – 360 °F/ 185°C.

Line your trays with baking parchment paper, and shape dough into rounded shapes as desired. After the challahs have been shaped, allow them to rise for 40 minutes, covered lightly with plastic wrap so they won’t dry out.

Brush them with an egg glaze and slide them into the preheated oven.

At this point, the total rising time should be 45 minutes. Many times people write or say to let “breads” rise for an hour. However, with these pretty shapes, I find that just this amount of time works best. If you over-rise your challahs, they become too airy and then often fall, or spread out too much or lose their pretty shape and flatten when baking. To retain their beautiful shape, it’s best to bake them after they have risen between 40-45 minutes.

The custom is to shape the challahs in a rounded shape at this time of year, to symbolize that the Jewish Year never ends; it comes full circle and then we start again. And it also reminds us that we pray to Hashem for our lives to continue… just like a circle continues.

Mini Carrot Muffins

Yield: about 50 mini- muffins
Or, if you want the easier way out, make it as a 9×3 “kugel” and cut it into squares…

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup hot water
3 cups flour, whole wheat, white, or a combo **
1 & ½ tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 – 4 large carrots, peeled

** if you use only white flour, it will come out light and fluffy. I’ve made it many times using whole wheat, a version that is very finely ground, and it comes out excellent that way as well. Plus, any leftovers, IF you have any, come in handy as a great healthy snack on the way to school for any kids in your house…

Method

Grate the carrots through a food processor. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Place the ingredients in the mixer bowl in the order listed. Mix until you have a thick and smooth batter. Add in the grated carrots and mix again until just incorporated.

Line the muffin tray with paper liners or spray the tray well with baking spray. Fill the muffin cups until almost full. Bake for 8-12 minutes until they are golden brown or a cake tester or sharp knife inserted into a muffin’s center tests clean. If you took ‘the easy way out’, and made it into a flat “kugel” (a.k.a. religious word for cake!), then bake it for 30-35 minutes, until the ‘kugel’s’ center tests clean. Remove from tray promptly and allow to cool. These freeze great. I know – they even eat great straight from the freezer with only a few minutes of defrost time…!!

So good you will use this often

I prefer this apple crisp served cold but if you are the kind that likes it warm, leave it on top of another pot on the blech for 2 hours before serving it.

Healthy Apple Crisp

No margarine, no white flour and plenty of good things in this version!
Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Use a glass pie dish of 9-10 inches in diameter.

6-8 medium sized apples, any color or a combo of colors
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup wheat germ
** note: if you don’t have wheat germ, use more oatmeal here instead
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup ground nuts, such as walnuts, almonds or pecans – or a combo
1/2 – 3/4 cup oil as needed

Method

Peel and slice thinly all the apples. Toss them with the lemon juice and arrange them all over the bottom of the pie dish. It will fill the dish nearly to the top. This is fine since the apples will shrink considerably as they bake.

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and toss them together to incorporate. Drizzle in the 1/2 cup of oil. Toss with a fork. If the mix looks dry, add the rest of the oil. Toss with a fork until the entire mix is wet but not clumpy. If it is clumpy you added too much oil. Add a bit more flour and mix again.

Using your fingers, arrange the mix all over the top of the apples.

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180° C. Put a piece of foil down on your rack to catch any drips that may leak over the edges of your pie dish. Place the apple crisp on the foil and let it bake for 35-45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and crispy. Let it cool completely and then cover it until serving.

Variation: after you’ve arranged the apple slices in the dish, open up a can of cranberry sauce, mash it up with a fork, and arrange this all over the apples. Then follow with the crumb topping. Delicious!